Scattered around this blog are links to various books/movies/games, those that stand out or that I would recommend to others are listed below. Don’t forget to check out the library to see what books I’ve been reading and my opinion of them.
Game Console Development
The “Black Art of Video Game Console Design” by Andre LaMothe is a great book if you’re interested in Hardware and Video Games. The idea of learning enough to be able to design and build your own retro games console appeals to a lot of people including myself. So long as you don’t expect to skim through the book in a few days and then go onto design a next gen console, you’ll love this book.
Rather than just buying the book though, you might want to take a look at the full Game Console Starter Kit (pictured below) that includes the book as well as a PCB and components required to build the Pico (described throughout the book). I’d recommend buying the XGS ME in addition to this as well as the SX Key to ease programming and debugging.
I bought an XGS ME back in July 2005 and although my progress with it has been slow due to lack of time, I have to say its been a joy to work with. A more indepth coverage of my time with the XGS can be found in the XGS Category of this blog.
The XGS is not however for everyone. Firstly, it’s aimed at those who already know how to program (at least in some high level language such as C/C++) and want to get their feet wet with hardware design. The unit is programmed in Assembly language for the SX52 processor. Although for me, this is all part of the attraction and fun, total hardware control.
Not everyone wants to learn the nitty gritty of hardware and for some the amount of effort required to even get a pixel out of the XGS is too much effort. If you’re one of those people then perhaps you would be more at home with Andre’s latest product, the “Hydra”. A multi-core (8 cogs) console aimed at beginner/intermediate programmers. Unlike the XGS you don’t need to use assembly to program the Hydra, it comes with a higher level language called “Spin”. Although I personally don’t have one, I do own the “Game Programming for the propeller powered Hydra” book, which was worth every penny.
DVDs
Without doubt (imho) the best TV Series ever to be broadcast (to date) has to be Babylon5, a Sci-Fi show created by Michael Straczynski. What makes Babylon5 so special in my mind, are the characters and the way they each develop for better (or worse) thoughout the 5 year story arc. I have yet to see another TV series that has such a good character development coupled with such a gripping story. I highly recommend this for anyone who has even the slightest passing interest in Sci-Fi.
You can buy the complete 5 Seasons of Babylon 5 on DVD in one package.
